Episode 140: Why Does My Body Hold Trauma? How Chronic Fatigue, Autoimmunity & Weight Gain Have An Emotional Trigger with Dr. Partha Nandi

Listen to Episode 140 with Dr. Partha Nandi →

When Your Body Speaks Through Symptoms

You push through exhaustion telling yourself it's just stress. This is the pattern so many high-performers follow without questioning. Your body sends signals you can't ignore anymore despite trying. Chronic fatigue, unexplained pain, digestive issues, and mood swings appearing.

What if these are messages about emotional wounds that remain unresolved from your past experiences affecting you now? Your current physical symptoms may be your body communicating clearly about unprocessed trauma living in your cells affecting function.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Partha Nandi for a conversation on chronic health issues, sharing five key insights that transform how we understand trauma's biological impact on our bodies. This episode gives you the core concepts from my book, The Biology of Trauma, about how trauma impacts your body. How your own biology maintains the survival state operating beneath awareness. And the repair tools needed for healing at the cellular level.

The Biology of Trauma reveals how adverse experiences rewire cellular function through the cell danger response, causing mitochondria to shift into survival mode, creating chronic health problems appearing years later. Understanding trauma's biological reality at the cellular level provides both validation for mysterious symptoms and specific repair tools needed. When mitochondria are stuck in survival mode operating constantly without rest, psychological interventions alone cannot restore optimal cellular function. Healing requires addressing biological dysfunction through targeted mitochondrial support, reducing cellular inflammation, and following the essential sequence: Safety, Support, and Expansion at the cellular level where trauma lives.

Why I Wrote This Book

I wrote it for the person who I used to be. Despite all my education, despite even being a very high-performing person functioning successfully, I didn't realize how much trauma my body was holding inside.

And I didn't realize it until I got very sick. This is the pattern for so many people. Successful, educated, capable, but body accumulating trauma beneath the surface. Until health crisis forces recognition that something is seriously wrong.

The 2014 Wake-Up Call

From marathon runner to unable to get out of bed during surgery residency, the moment everything changed for me completely. I was running marathons and thriving in medical training. Then suddenly couldn't function at all during demanding residency.

Not just tired but literally unable to function normally every day. This was my wake-up call that changed my entire career trajectory and understanding of health and trauma's biological impact on bodies.

Insight 1: Trauma Is Your Internal Response

Trauma isn't the event that happened to you externally. It's your body's five-step sequence during overwhelm experienced internally. The external event isn't the trauma. Your internal response is what creates trauma in your body.

All overwhelming experiences follow the same pattern happening automatically. Startle, stress, powerlessness, freeze, and shutdown occurring in sequence. When your capacity is exceeded by what's happening to you, this sequence unfolds automatically beneath your conscious awareness.

The sequence is the same whether trauma is big or small. Whether physical or emotional, the body responds the same way.

Insight 2: The Critical Line of Overwhelm

Your invisible boundary between experiences that grow you versus break you. Everyone has this line determining your response to experiences. Experiences below it grow you stronger through healthy challenge. Experiences above it overwhelm you, breaking you down instead.

Some stress grows you stronger building capacity over time. Too much stress breaks you down depleting your resources completely. The line determines which outcome happens.

This boundary changes based on your current capacity available. Sleep, stress, and support all affect where your line sits. Your critical line is different from others' and different for you on different days depending on your capacity.

Insight 3: Cellular Trauma Is Real

How mitochondria literally change shape and function during overwhelm. "Your mitochondria literally change shape, becoming round and rigid. Instead of long and flexible as they should be normally."

"And they switch to a backup energy system operating differently. That produces less energy but can function under threat perceived."

"When you cross that critical line of overwhelm, your cells engage their own emergency brake called the cell danger response activating throughout your system."

"Just like your nervous system shuts down for protection automatically, your cellular powerhouses, your mitochondria, shift from efficient energy production to barely surviving under threat."

Insight 4: The Essential Sequence Matters

Safety, support, then expansion in that specific order. Why most people skip the crucial first step causing problems. This order cannot be skipped without causing harm to your system.

"Most people skip the safety phase though and jump straight into deep processing of trauma stored in body."

"And this often retraumatizes them causing more harm than good." Skipping safety causes harm instead of healing. Without safety foundation, expansion efforts overwhelm and damage you rather than heal what needs healing attention.

Insight 5: Your Biology Can Heal

How the same systems holding trauma become your greatest recovery resource. Your mitochondria, nervous system, and cells that hold trauma can also heal it when given proper conditions and support.

Once you understand how to work with them cooperatively, they become allies in healing instead of obstacles blocking progress.

"Your symptoms are messengers bringing you important information. Your reactions are information about what needs attention and healing. And your healing journey becomes a collaboration with the incredible wisdom your body has been holding all along."

The Cell Danger Response

When overwhelm crosses a critical threshold in your capacity, mitochondria physically change shape, becoming round and rigid. Instead of long and flexible as they should be. This is measurable under microscope showing actual physical changes.

They switch to a backup system that produces less energy but works under threat, allowing survival but not thriving. This cellular state creates the chronic fatigue, pain, and other symptoms you experience daily without understanding why.

The Universal Trauma Pattern

All overwhelming experiences follow the same five-step sequence. Regardless of the trigger causing the overwhelm. Startle, stress, powerlessness, freeze, and shutdown happening automatically in order.

Whether big trauma or small, physical or emotional threat perceived, the pattern is consistent showing universal biology responding predictably. Understanding the pattern helps you recognize when you're in it.

Biological Markers Provide Evidence

Heart rate variability, mitochondrial function, and inflammatory markers matter. Heart rate variability shows nervous system regulation objectively. Objective measure of autonomic function happening beneath your awareness.

Mitochondrial function can be measured through various tests. Shows cellular energy production capacity you currently have. Inflammatory markers through blood tests reveal inflammation levels present. Objective evidence of cellular stress affecting your body's function.

These provide concrete evidence of trauma's cellular impact. Not just symptoms reported but measurements taken objectively.

Integration Is Required for Healing

Trauma affects mind, body, and biology simultaneously. Requiring coordinated intervention across all levels working in concert. Can't just address one level and expect complete healing.

Mind alone doesn't fix cells damaged by trauma biology. Body alone doesn't fix beliefs formed from trauma experiences. Need to work across all levels in coordination. This is integrated healing creating lasting change that persists.

Partial approaches create partial results that don't last long-term. Complete healing requires integration addressing all aspects simultaneously.

This Episode Is For: 

✓ High-performers pushing through exhaustion

✓ Anyone with chronic fatigue and unexplained symptoms

✓ People with autoimmunity and trauma history

✓ Those whose bodies seem to work against them

✓ Practitioners needing biological framework for trauma

✓ Anyone interested in cell danger response

✓ People ready for measurable healing approach

✓ Those wanting to understand trauma at cellular level

What You'll Learn

Listen to Dr. Aimie explain how chronic symptoms have emotional triggers. Learn the five key insights including why trauma is an internal response. The five-step sequence of startle, stress, powerlessness, freeze, and shutdown. The critical line of overwhelm that shifts daily between growth and breakdown. How mitochondria literally change shape during trauma, becoming round and rigid. Switching to survival energy systems creating chronic symptoms persisting over time. The essential healing sequence of safety, support, and expansion that works. How the same biological systems holding trauma become your recovery resource. And why psychological interventions alone cannot restore cellular function without addressing mitochondrial support, antioxidants, and biological repair tools needed at the cellular level where trauma actually lives affecting function.

Trauma lives in your cells—healing requires biological repair, not just therapy.

Listen to Episode 140 with Dr. Partha Nandi →

Disclaimer

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information shared reflects my clinical expertise and research, but every person's biology and healing journey is unique. Always consult with qualified healthcare providers before making changes to your treatment plan or starting new interventions. If you're experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact emergency services or a crisis helpline immediately.

Join the Conversation

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. What resonated with you? What questions came up?

Please keep comments respectful and supportive. This is a community of people committed to healing. We welcome diverse perspectives and honest questions, but we don't tolerate personal attacks, spam, or content that could harm others on their healing journey.